Less Goods, More Services

I've been thinking about how we, as a society, consume and dispose of too much stuff. There's a reasonably good online video (sorry, don't have the link handy) that points out how we're taught to be "good little consumers". The rationale is that the economy will likely grind to a halt if people stop spending. We hear this mantra regularly - "we have to spend our way out of a recession", "buy locally made goods to keep the local economy strong", etc.

But then I started thinking. Why do we have to spend money on goods? Why not just spend it on services? Employment is a means of wealth redistribution, and so I know that it is far better for society and the economy to have maximum employment. But why does this "employment" have to mean more mining, more oil consumption, more pollution, etc?

I really want to reduce the amount of goods that I buy/use/dispose of, but still want to (a) reward myself for hard work and (b) keep money flowing through the economy. So instead of rewarding myself with more food, I could pay $10 for a quick shoulder massage. Instead of buying a new pair of shoes, I could pay someone to fix my old ones. If there are goods that can't be substituted by services, then I still have to buy them. But instead of rewarding myself with the latest electronics, I could get my bicycle tuned and go for a ride.

Just a thought I'm having.